The invention relates to a device for controlling the flow of a fluid, housed in a thermostatic faucet.
Particularly in shower stalls, the valve that controls the flow of hot and cold water to the shower head or the faucet head must handle not only the on-off function but also the mixing of the hot water issuing from a hot water source with the cold water issuing from a cold water source in order to obtain water mixed to the temperature desired by the user.
There are exclusively mechanical control systems that consist of adjusting the cross-sections of the hot water and cold water passages.
These devices cannot correct the outlet temperature when the flow rate and/or the temperature of one of the two hot water/cold water conduits is accidentally modified.
There are other known devices in which the hot water/cold water mixture is controlled by means of a temperature-sensitive control element plunged into a so-called mixing chamber.
This control element automatically modifies the flow cross-sections of the hot water and cold water inlets into the mixing chamber by moving a piece that acts like a slide valve.
There are means that make it possible, by means of a control knob, to set reference value.
Thus, if the temperature of the water in the mixing chamber exceeds the threshold set by the reference value, the sensitive element shuts off the flow cross-section of the hot water passage in order to prevent burns.
A device of this type therefore controls the mixture of hot and cold water by automatically modifying the flow cross-section of the hot water and the cold water passages into the mixing chamber located downstream.
It is essential, however, to be able to stop the flow of the faucet when it is not in use.
It is therefore customary to house in the faucet both a temperature-sensitive mixing device and a device for controlling the opening and closing of the faucet,
There are known devices wherein the body of the faucet houses a flow control device at one of its ends and an automatic temperature control device at its other end, these two devices being joined by a connecting conduit.
For purposes of control and/or adjustment, each of the devices has a control element located on one side of the body of the faucet for one of them, and on the other side for the other.
This makes it necessary to position the body parallel to the wall from which the hot water and cold water supply conduits project.
The flow control device can be positioned upstream or downstream from the temperature control device.
When the two conduits are combined, the opening/closing control device is generally disposed upstream from the device for controlling the mixture of the hot and cold water, in order to insulate the thermosensitive element when the faucet is not in use.
For example, the control device consists in a set of washers pierced with holes that in the open position, positions one washer relative to the other so that the holes of one washer line up with the holes of the other washer.
As a general rule, the flow control device works in an all-or-nothing way, meaning that it does not have any intermediate position, and the principle of these faucets consists of completely opening or closing the water inlets without the capability to control the flow rate.
In some cases, especially for faucets installed in sinks (EP-A-0.605.845 or EP-A-0.342.709), flow control may be provided, but this requires being able to modify the flow cross-sections of the hot water and cold water passages simultaneously, which requires complex hole shapes.
This is the case with the device in the document EP-1.022.634, wherein the set of disks is installed in such a way that it controls both the inflow of hot and cold water and the outflow of mixed water.
There is another known device (EP-0.566.433) wherein the thermosensitive element drives of one of the three disks in rotation, constituting a flow control means downstream from the mixing chamber.
An installation of this type is not appropriate because the mechanical stresses that are exerted on the thermosensitive element modify the position of the slide valve that controls the temperature.
The stresses are extremely undesirable because the amplitude of displacement of the slide valve is on the order of one millimeter, and even a slight modification interferes with the adjustment of temperature.
One of the objects of the invention is to obtain a device of the aforementioned type that specifically eliminates the aforementioned disadvantages.
The subject of the invention is a device for controlling the flow of a fluid from a faucet comprising:
housed in the body of the faucet:
a device for controlling the outlet temperature of the water, comprising a thermosensitive element which, plunged into a so-called mixing chamber, adjusts the temperature of the mixed water by modifying the cross-sections of flow to the mixing chamber of the hot water issuing from a hot water inlet and the cold water issuing from a cold water inlet, and
a device for controlling the flow of the faucet,
a control knob for the temperature control device and
a control element for the flow control device located on the same side of the body of the faucet that houses the control device, and on the opposite side from the outlet, this device being characterized in that the means for transmitting the rotation of the control element is coaxial to the thermosensitive element and this means is a rotationally guided jacket housing the thermosensitive element, this jacket being rotationally coupled with the control element of the flow control device by a first coupling means, and rotationally coupled with the flow control device by a second